WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Two interceptions and a forced fumble from the Connecticut Army National Guard Player of the Game, graduate transfer defensive back Zach Cofrancesco (East Haven, Conn./Notre Dame), led the University of New Haven (3-2, 2-1 NE10) football team to a 28-21 victory over the Pace Setters on Saturday afternoon. The forced fumble for Cofrancesco came in a key moment in the game after the Setters recovered an onside kick and looked to tie the game in the final three minutes of action.

Overall for the game, Cofrancesco was one of two Chargers to finish in double figures with 19 total tackles, seven of which were solo stops. He was joined in leading the team by sophomore Ryan Hodgins (Flanders, N.J./Mount Olive). In addition to his 10 total tackles, Cofrancesco racked up 29 yards on his two interceptions and picked up an eight-yard sack on his forced fumble late in the fourth quarter.

Cofrancesco's sack was one of three total on the day with Devon Nzepuome (Milton, Mass./Milton) and D'won Walker (Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) each driving the Setters offense back. Nzepuome's sack was one of two tackles for loss on the day for the senior while his sack pushed the Setters back 14 yards, forcing them to punt from deep in their zone.

The Chargers defense was hot from the start, forcing Pace to punt on their game-opening possession after losing two yards on the first three plays. On the Setters next drive, the Chargers forced Pace to attempt a 46-yard field goal which was pushed wide left.

Offensively, the Blue and Gold was led by is junior quarterback Christian Lupoli (Branford, Conn./Notre Dame) who, in his first start of the season, threw for 173 yards and four touchdowns. He connected on 16-of-31 pass attempts with graduate wide receiver Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) hauling in a team-best five passes among seven total targets that Lupoli relied on. Williams' five passes racked up 31 yards and a pair of touchdowns while junior wide out Chris Carlyle (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) pulled in a team-high 36 yards on three catches with one of those accounting for six points. Sophomore Paul Cooper (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) recorded the Chargers fourth touchdown of the day on his only catch where he pulled down an 18-yard pass from Lupoli.

New Havens rushing game accounted for the most yardage on the day, netting 211 yards. Leading the way in the ground attack was sophomore Shamar Logan (Brooklyn, N.Y./High School for Youth & Community Development) who ran for 116 yards on 18 attempts. His backfield mate, senior Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross), also took 18 attempts on the day, picking up 87 yards without losing a single yard on the ground. Rounding out the ground assault was Lupoli who ran for a net of eight yards.

The Chargers would get on the board first when, after forcing Pace scoreless in its first two drives, Lupoli capped off a 76-yard drive with the first of two TD connects with Williams from eight yards out on third-and-goal. After the Setters tied the game at seven early in the second quarter, the Chargers would rattle off three touchdowns over the final 8:25 of the half to take a 28-7 lead into intermission.

The first of those second quarter scores closed out a season-long 17-play drive that ate up 6:32 on the clock and ended with Lupoli connecting with Carlyle from 20 yards deep on a fourth-and-13 conversion. The fourth down conversion for Lupoli was the second of two on the drive as he erased a fourth-and-four with a six-yard pass to Logan to keep the drive alive.

On the ensuing drive for the Setters, Cofrancesco stepped in the middle of what would have been an eight yard completion for Pace to pick off his first pass of the afternoon and return in 29 yards to the Pace 35 yard line. That interception led to a scoring drive that lasted under three minutes with Lupoli finding Williams for the second time.

Cofrancesco remained a pest for the Setters as he cut the next Pace drive to just 14 seconds when he picked off a second down pass that traveled 42 yards into the New Haven zone. New Haven built off Cofrancesco's defense with a 79 second drive that closed out the half with Lupoli and Cooper connecting from 18 yards out with just one second on the clock.

New Haven returns to action with a visit to Manchester, N.H. next weekend for the first of two-straight road games. The Saturday evening date with Saint Anselm comes under the lights with kick off slated for 6:00 p.m.